


In The Darkness

by babygirl127



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, M/M, SAINW, Same As It Never Was
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-14 20:24:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3424394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babygirl127/pseuds/babygirl127
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After thirty years without his love, Raph finally finds Don once again</p>
            </blockquote>





	In The Darkness

Raph had been alone for so long now. Thirty years was a long time to be without the one that meant the most to you and each new day cut through his heart like the sharp side of Leo’s katana. It was near impossible to bear after having known perfection.

Thirty years ago Don had given him his heart. It had been completely unexpected. Raph had been pining after him for a while but had never thought that his feelings would be returned. When Don had come to him one night and told Raph that he loved him it was almost like he had caught a falling star and now his life was so much brighter.

All of that happiness ended when Don just disappeared. No note. No explanation. There hadn’t been any fights, either with enemies or within the family. There was nothing to explain where he had gone. All Raph knew was that wherever Don had gone, he had taken the light with him and now he was left in the darkness.

The stars, the moon, every source of light in Raph's life had gone out. With Don gone it seemed like he was living every day in an endless twilight. He needed his light back and Raph vowed to never give up searching for him.

Despite how long it had been Raph never gave up looking for him. It wore down on him though. Every year that went by that Don continued to be missing was another year that Raph feel even deeper into the darkness that the world was becoming.

It was like he was living his life in a perpetual twilight until he could find his missing heart again. He knew that Don was out there somewhere. At times it felt like he could still hear his heartbeat. The familiar sound was almost the only thing that kept him going some days. Kept him fighting against the Shredder, brought him back from each battle with just enough life left in him to go another day.

Now that's he was gone it was almost impossible for Raph to cope with it. It seemed hopeless after a while. Raph was almost at the point of giving up when he felt a sturdy piece of wood hit him across the plastron and heard a voice that had disappeared years ago.

April had gotten in contact with him saying that he needed to come to the base. According to her it was a matter of great importance so Raph had shown up. What he hadn't known was that she had asked Leo to be there too.

Time hadn't healed that wound and they had gotten into it again the moment they saw each other. It wasn't until a voice from the past yelled that he was brought back to his senses.

There, standing right in front of him was Don. Raph could barely believe it even when he surged forward and pulled Don into his arms. His love had returned to him after all of these years and he had a plan to bring the light back into Raph’s eyes again. It would be dangerous but it just might work.

The only thing that bothered Raph about Don’s sudden reappearance was the hesitation he had shown when Raph went to kiss him when they were finally alone. Seeing the confused expression on his face Raph had pulled back. After some explanation on Don’s part Raph realized that even though Don was standing in front of him, it wasn’t his Donnie.

Even though this Don may not have been the one that he fell in love with, Raph would still protect him as though he was. He was still Don after all. Maybe at the end of all of this he would be able to help Raph find his own Don.

That night they followed Don into battle to try for one final time to defeat the Shredder. The battle was terrible. As he fought, Raph tried to keep a close watch on Don to make sure that he didn’t disappear again after so soon being found. With all the chaos going on it was a difficult task to manage.

When Raph saw Leo cut down by Karai he raced to his side to try and save him but it was too late. Turning to face off against her himself, he too was cut down by her sword.

As he lay on the ground bleeding, Raph slowly began to slip into the darkness. His vision was tunneling but the one thing his was certain that he could see was Don. It wasn’t this new Don that had appeared but his own love. He had been in this darkness the whole time. Now that Raph had finally found him again he would stay here is the darkness with him.


End file.
